<B>skin, </B>noun, adjective, verb, <B>skinned,</B> <B>skinning.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the covering of the body in persons, animals, and plants, especially when soft and flexible. <BR> <I>Ex. Cows have thick skins. He slipped on a banana skin. The skin is the largest organ of the body and, next to the brain, the most complicated (Science News Letter).</I> <DD><B> 2a. </B>the covering of an animal when stripped from the body to be dressed or tanned; hide; pelt. <BR> <I>Ex. The skin of a calf makes soft leather. The numbers of rabbits also fluctuate with the seasons, as can be seen from figures for exports of carcasses and skins (Fenner and Day).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>a container made of the hide of an animal for holding liquids. <BR> <I>Ex. a waterskin, a wineskin.</I> <DD><B> 3a. </B>the planking or iron plating covering the ribs or frame of a ship. <DD><B> b. </B>the outside covering or casing of an aircraft, rocket, or spacecraft. <BR> <I>Ex. ... heat-resistant alloys for use in the skins of missiles (Time).</I> <DD><B> c. </B>an outside covering, especially a metal covering, as of a trailer truck, freight container, or Quonset hut. <DD><B> d. </B>(Architecture.) a curtain wall, especially of lightweight metal or glass. <BR> <I>Ex. The outer skin of the building ... is composed of two-story aluminum frames (Wall Street Journal).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Slang.) a cheat; swindler. <DD><B> 5. </B>(Slang.) a skinflint. <DD><B> 6. </B>(Slang.) a dollar. <BR> <I>Ex. We get only the 75 skins a month ... And we can prove it (Time).</I> <DD><B> 7. </B>(Slang.) a drum. <BR> <I>Ex. He beats the skins with a fine, off-beat flavor (New York Times).</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>of the skin; having to do with skin. <BR> <I>Ex. skin care, skin cream, skin cancer, a skin graft.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Slang.) having to do with nudity and sex; pornographic. <BR> <I>Ex. skin magazines, skin films, a skin book.</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to strip, rub, or scrape the skin off. <BR> <I>Ex. He skinned his knees when he fell. The hunter skinned the deer.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to cover with or as if with skin. <BR> <I>Ex. It will but skin and film the ulcerous place (Shakespeare).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Slang.) to swindle, especially of money; cheat; defraud. <DD><B> 4. </B>(U.S. Slang.) to skin-pop. <BR> <I>Ex. He quickly goes from "snorting" to "skinning" to "mainlining" heroin (Science News).</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to become covered with skin; form a new skin. <BR> <I>Ex. The wound gradually skinned over.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to shed skin. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) to pass barely; slip by narrowly. <BR> <I>Ex. We skinned past a seething snag (New Yorker).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(U.S. Slang.) to skin-pop. <BR><I>expr. <B>beneath the skin,</B> </I><B>=under the skin.</B> <BR><I>expr. <B>by</B> (or <B>with</B>) <B>the skin of one's teeth,</B> </I>with nothing to spare; by a very narrow margin; barely. <BR> <I>Ex. About half way through I began to fear that the joke could not be sustained, but it was--by the skin of its teeth (Listener). His eldest son was implicated in the robbery ..., and came off by the skin of his teeth (Nation).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>get under one's skin,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>to make one overly sensitive; irritate or annoy. </I> <I>Ex. Don't let your opponents and what they say about you get under your skin (Hubert H. Humphrey).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>to affect emotionally; stimulate or excite. <BR> <I>Ex. Venice gets under your skin, all right, and it stays there. Once you've been a part of it, ... Venice will always be a part of you (New Yorker).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>give</B> (or <B>get</B>) <B>skin,</B> </I>(U.S. Slang.) to touch or shake hands in greeting. <BR> <I>Ex. The black expression "Give me some skin" has now become ... common among characters asking for a handshake (New Yorker).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>have a thick</B> (or <B>thin</B>) <B>skin,</B> </I>to be insensitive (or too sensitive) to criticism, reproach, or the like. <BR> <I>Ex. Don't worry about hurting his feelings; he has a thick skin.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>in</B> (or <B>with</B>) <B>a whole skin,</B> </I>safe and sound. <BR> <I>Ex. He was besides in a very great fright, For a whole skin he liked to be in (Robert Southey).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>jump out of one's skin,</B> </I>to jump with extreme delight, excitement, high spirits, or surprise. <BR> <I>Ex. Scipio ... was ready to jump out of his skin for joy at the sight of me (Benjamin H. Malkin).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>no skin off one's nose</B> (<B>back,</B> <B>teeth,</B> or other part of the body). </I>(Slang.) not one's concern; of no consequence or interest to one. <BR> <I>Ex. If Mr. Horvitz doesn't come into the service, it's no skin off my nose (Jon C. Suggs).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>save one's skin,</B> </I>to escape without harm. <BR> <I>Ex. He was taken prisoner ... and had to turn Dervish to save his skin (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>skin alive,</B> (Informal.) <DD><B> a. </B>to torture; flay. </I> <I>Ex. They may skin me alive, if they please (Benjamin Jowett).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>(Figurative.) to scold severely. <BR> <I>Ex. His father will skin him alive if he comes home late.</I> <DD><B> c. </B>(Figurative.) to defeat completely. <BR> <I>Ex. Any amateur would be skinned alive competing with a world champion.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>skin out,</B> </I>(Slang.) to slip away, especially hastily; make off; escape. <BR> <I>Ex. I used to skin out of the old Sunday School ... every chance I got (Sinclair Lewis).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>under the skin,</B> </I>below the surface; basically. <BR> <I>Ex. The Dart and Plymouth [two cars] are "brothers under the skin." They are structurally alike, but somewhat different in appearance (Wall Street Journal).</I> adj. <B>skinlike.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="skinandbones">
<B>skin and bones,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>extreme thinness or emaciation. <BR> <I>Ex. She languished and pined away to skin and bones (Edward Herbert).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a very thin person. <BR> <I>Ex. "I like to eat," said Otto. "Not like ... skin and bones here" (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="skinboat">
<B>skin boat,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a boat made from animal skins extended over a frame. <BR> <I>Ex. Seals, walruses, and whales are used for the making of skin boats (John C. Reed).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="skinbound">
<B>skin-bound, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having the skin drawn tightly over the flesh. </DL>
<A NAME="skindeep">
<B>skin-deep, </B>adjective, adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> no deeper than the skin; shallow; slight. <BR> <I>Ex. a skin-deep wound, beauty that is only skin-deep.</I> <DD><I>adv. </I> in a superficial manner; slightly. <BR> <I>Ex. (Figurative.) Stings that have penetrated more than skin-deep into my mind (Edmund Burke).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="skindisease">
<B>skin disease,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a disease affecting the skin. Acne and eczema are skin diseases. </DL>
<A NAME="skindive">
<B>skin-dive, </B>intransitive verb, <B>-dived,</B> <B>-diving.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to engage in skin diving. </DL>
<A NAME="skindiver">
<B>skin diver,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a person engaged in skin diving as his work or as a sport; free diver. </DL>
<A NAME="skindiving">
<B>skin diving,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> swimming about underwater, sometimes at considerable depth and for long periods of time, usually equipped with a face mask, rubber flippers, and a portable breathing device; free diving. <BR> <I>Ex. As an ultimate in sports gear, an underwater camera has now been developed for the benefit of skin diving enthusiasts (Newsweek).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="skineffect">
<B>skin effect,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Electricity.) a concentration of current density at the surface of a conductor, increasing with frequency and producing an increase in resistance. </DL>
<B>skin flick,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Slang.) a pornographic motion picture. </DL>
<A NAME="skinflint">
<B>skinflint, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a mean, stingy person; miser. <BR> <I>Ex. And let him question such a thing as an appropriation for foreign aid to education; he is a skinflint without regard for the welfare of the world or even our own children (Wall Street Journal).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="skinfriction">
<B>skin friction,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the friction developed between a solid and a fluid, especially the friction that occurs in the thin layer of air (boundary layer) over the surface of an aircraft moving at very high speeds, causing a sharp rise in temperature. </DL>
<A NAME="skinful">
<B>skinful, </B>noun, pl. <B>-fuls.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>as much as a skin for liquids can hold. <DD><B> 2a. </B>(Informal.) as much as a person or animal can hold or drink. <DD><B> b. </B>(Slang.) as much as, or more than, one should drink at one time of alcoholic liquor. </DL>
<A NAME="skingame">
<B>skin game,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) a game or proceeding in which one is fleeced, cheated, or swindled. <BR> <I>Ex. As a very small [antiques] dealer ... His business is rather a skin game (Edmund McGirr).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="skingraft">
<B>skin graft,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a portion of skin surgically transferred from one part of a body to another or from one person to another person. <BR> <I>Ex. A thin skin graft is about one-thousandths of an inch thick and includes all of the epidermis ... and a little of the dermis (William B. Youmans).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the act or fact of making such a graft. </DL>
<A NAME="skingrafting">
<B>skin grafting,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the surgical transfer of healthy skin from one part of a body to another, or from one person to another, to replace skin destroyed by a burn or other injury. </DL>
<A NAME="skinhead">
<B>skinhead, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a type of young British working-class tough who wears closely cropped hair, work clothes, and hobnailed boots, and engages in street fighting. <BR> <I>Ex. The skinheads ... specialize in terrorizing such menacing types as hippies and homosexuals, Pakistani immigrants and little old ladies (Time).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a type of young American tough, usually the member of a gang, who wears closely cropped hair and follows ideas and practices derived from the Nazis. </DL>
<A NAME="skinheadism">
<B>skinheadism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the practices of skinheads, especially the use of violence against members of minority groups. </DL>
